Altair GPCAM2 327C
Video astronomy camera
A simple to use, all round astronomy camera that can move swiftly between targets
Altair Astro’s family of GPCAM astronomy cameras have a good reputation among astronomers, for being easy to use and producing good quality images. Building on this foundation, Altair has introduced the GPCAM2 327C. It’s a one shot colour (OSC) camera that offers increased sensitivity over its predecessors. The simplicity of the GPCAM2 327C, both to set up and to use, makes it perfect for getting the best out of clear-sky opportunities. Once the camera drivers are downloaded and installed, it simply plugs in and is recognised immediately by the software, so you slew the telescope to your desired target, set the exposure length and gain to what you want, and just enjoy the view.
This type of camera is especially suitable for electronically assisted astronomy (EAA) with live video, and as luck would have it a perfect target emerged in the shape of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). Even in pristine skies it can be difficult to observe much detail in faint comets, and under the suburban conditions surrounding our observatory, this one at mag. +8.0
was a little underwhelming.
However, with the eyepiece swapped for the GPCAM2 327C, the view was quite different. Almost immediately we could see more of the glow around the comet, and with live image stacking, the direction and speed of travel – and some evidence of a tail – could be seen on screen from the comfort of our warm room. We found that we spent longer observing each target than we would using an eyepiece, and this resulted in a closer connection to the night sky, with the live view contributing to the feeling of ‘seeing it with your own eyes’. Having the live image available on a laptop or computer screen makes it much easier to share the viewing experience with others, including children or observers who may struggle to identify the target object in an eyepiece.
Wealth of colours
We enjoyed visiting a wealth of globular clusters available in spring and noted that the colour camera was particularly good for highlighting the different types of stars, showing the red and orange colours well and contrasting them with younger blue ones. The great cluster in Hercules, M13, was particularly impressive, filling the frame with our 1m focal length telescope.